driftfleet | Open Action: Fleet Wide

Entry tags:

Open Action: Fleet Wide

Who: Cole and EVERYONE
Broadcast: No
Action: EVERY ship in the Fleet, bar Marsiva, Three Twins and Tourist (Though you can easily find him on another ship if you're from one of those)
When: First week of the month?

[This is a thing Cole does.

He travels the Fleet a lot, from ship to ship, meeting people, talking to people, hanging out. He sees people he knows and meets new ones, or ones he just didn't encounter before

He wants to help everyone. Which means meeting them first. Or finding them. Doing that might involve poking through the ships, even if he really shouldn't. Or going through personal belongings. Sorry about that. He's curious.

And armed. It is worth mentioning he's got a pair of wickedly sharp fighting knives on his back. Sorry about that as well.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I've spoken to him, but not about the things he hasn't done yet.

We spoke a little about Justice, but not much. Mostly we talked about Wardens and what makes them Grey.

And helping people. I like helping people.

[Well, she can't fault him for helping people. That's generally a good thing.]

The darkspawn taint, do you mean?

[... yes this is not a comfortable conversation, nope nope.]

Yes. I think so. The song, it calls to the Darkspawn and sings through them and eventually, the Wardens hear it and it Calls to them, come, closer, cradled in the dark.

[She shuts her eyes. This talk of the taint really only makes her think of Wesley, and her expression is strained.]

Sounds... dangerous.

[Cole's eyes close and he lifts a hand to his chest. He tries to stuff it all inside, but before he can stop, he's already speaking.]

The Taint, thick and heavy, clawing through his veins, my beloved Wesley, not like this, not choking on the poison, sword to his breast and even a kiss is too dangerous-

Stop.

[Half angry, half alarmed, Aveline steps forward with her hand clenched into a fist.]

How dare you. I don't know who put you up to this, but it stops now.

[And Cole reacts the only way he knows.

He flickers in a puff of smoke, back out of her reach and bringing a hand up to fend off the blow.

He doesn't reach for his knives.]

I'm sorry! I'm sorry, it's too loud, bubbles to the surface despite Donnic when Darkspawn is mentioned, I'm sorry.

What--

[He knows too much, and he knows in ways that cut her deeply. Donnic is his own category of loss, Maker she misses him, less painfully but far fresher. She narrows her eyes, but she keeps her distance, too. Demon is the obvious answer, but she's also in space and who knows what other possibilities there are.]

What are you?

[He doesn't look at her, just draws back more and into himself. Draws back enough that he briefly seems to fade out of view slightly before snapping back to reality.

He doesn't want to answer. He doesn't lie.]

Solas and Anders calls me a spirit. Fenris calls me a demon and burns with hate and pain so bright that there's no space for the world.

[That's not helpful. Justice is a spirit -- apparently -- and she's not terribly thrilled with how that turned out. Demon or not, she's not sure she has it in her to attack someone -- something -- that seems so frightened. Either way, it's probably for the best she's unarmed.]

So, what, you possessed an innocent young man and then ended up here?

[Still suspicious, to be honest. Of the three people he named, she knows two, and she likes Fenris far more, but she'll be the first to admit that his opinion on magic is not exactly unbiased.]

No! This is my body, no one else ever lived here! I'm not an abomination, I'm a spirit!

[His voice actually gets something near loud for a moment, because he's very emphatic on that point. He's not an abomination.

It drops again as he continues, still not looking at her.]

He was suffering, so much and I couldn't help there, I had to come here to help, so I made myself come through to help him. And I stayed here. I can help more.

I'm not Justice. I'm not living in anyone, they don't change me. I look like him, I don't live in him. He's dead. They took his body and burned it in the Pit.

That doesn't make sense.

[Spirits, demons, whatever you want to call them -- they don't do that. They need a physical body to leave the Fade. Aveline doesn't know that much about the Fade, but everyone knows that.]

You want to... help? How?

Spirits can cross over. If they have enough Will. It can stop them losing themselves if they have the Will to cross. Enough Will to cross, enough Will to remain themselves.

That's what Solas said. I don't really understand entirely.

[He peers out from under his hat. His eyes are pale, clear blue, and there's something reminiscent of Justice's blue in them, though not the same.]

Heal the hurt, save the small. I'm not Justice. I was Compassion. Now I'm Cole.

[Compassion. That's... comforting, for what it is.]

There isn't much compassion in bringing up Wesley.

[She's at a bit of a loss, honestly. He seems harmless, or at least as harmless as any demon or spirit could be, and that idea is new enough. It's perhaps ironic that knowing Anders and Justice is making this slightly easier.]

Bloody flames. I don't -- and does Atroma take spirits, too?

[He draws back a little more and his voice is a whisper.] I hear what hurts, harms, hollows. It echoes in me, calls and cajoles and I want to help it, but sometimes it overwhelms instead and I can't keep it all inside.

[He shrugs a little, looking somewhere else.]

I was already on this side. I came through a few years ago. Before the rebellion in Val Royeaux.

[She's not... angry any more. Cautious, suspicious, completely on guard, but 'angry' isn't the right word.]

I want you to stay out of my head. It's my own business.

I'm not in your head.

You're in me.

[He sounds just a tiny bit pained at the admission.]

I'll try and be quiet, I can avoid you! I avoid Fenris, stay away, well away, I don't go to the Tourist, or the Three Twins, I can not come here, it's the only way to keep your hurts away from me.

[She could. She could tell him to stay away, but... that's not her. If he's dangerous, she'd rather he be in plain sight. If he's not -- Maker, what a strange idea -- then she can't in good conscience punish him for her own discomfort. She should really talk to Hawke about this. Aveline pinches the bridge of her nose, pained.]

No. No, you don't need to go that far. 'Quiet' is good, though. If you can do that.

[He looks at her, intently, looking at the screeches of pain that echo off her to workout what would be best for her.

Stay and be quiet? Avoid her from now on?]

It would still make you uncomfortable. I'm going to go. I don't want to make you unhappy in your living space.

I'm already unhappy in my living space. That has nothing to do with you.

[Which is true. This whole place is uncomfortable, and she's somewhat alone. Aveline ~~hugs herself~~ crosses her arms across her chest.]

But I won't stop you from going, either.

But I don't help. I'm sorry. I'll stay away.

[He probably doesn't help by then vanishing in a puff of thick, brackish smoke that vaguely smells like memories and dust.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Open Action: Fleet Wide

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject